Family Affair
by Cadence Barrick
Summary: Chapter 4 has arrived. Scorponok is back with Blackout. Cadence and Dragon finish their dreadfully boring circuit. Anakia is offered a side-job. What could possibly happen next?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers. And that's probably not a good thing if you like happy endings. Decepticons RULE!

Family Affair

Prologue

Cadence Barrick

"You've got to be kidding me!" Starscream roared in anger. Not in the millions of years that he had been online had he ever wanted to see the day that had reared its ugly head. The fact was the Decepticons needed supplies badly if they were going to even have the energy to finish their new found 'home'. They had taken over a huge abandoned farm shed that had enough room to cover all of the 'Cons currently present and there was also enough room for three more. However they had to do a bit of excavating in order to fit all of the other necessary rooms but once finished it would probably be a makeshift equivalent of an actual headquarters instead of just a temporary base of operations. Unlike the Autobots who got free support from the fleshings that inhabited this lousy planet, the Decepticons were the enemy so they of course couldn't just expect the Humans to lend out a hand or the funds that they so desperately needed. Never had their new leader, Starscream, expected to have to turn to those pathetic meat bags for help. But as it stood, they really had no other choice since the world was on high alert for them. So as a last resort, each one of them had to find a job and work amongst the disgusting organics.

The brown jet sighed heavily as he held the bridge of his smell receptors as he sensed a headache threatening to interrupt his processor. 'Desperate time call for desperate measures, I suppose,' Starscream thought to himself with a grimace as he leaned forward to flick the switch to the intercom system. "All Decepticons! Report to the briefing room immediately!"

He closed the communication line and went to the designated area to wait for the others to file in. Soon the rest of them began to saunter into the room. Among the group was Soundwave along with the only cassettes he had left; Rumble, Ravage, and Laserbeak; Starscream's own wing mates, Skywarp and Thundercracker, the newly repaired Blackout who was still rather miffed at the loss of his drone, Scorponok, and of course, Barricade. They all looked at him as they waited for him to start talking. Skywarp of course was never good with awkward silence, "So… What's with the all-call? We goin' on a raid? Are we gonna kick some Auto-aft?"

"If only it were that simple. We are facing a very critical problem and it must be resolved if we are to continue as a faction. I myself am reluctant to accept the information that I have been presented by Soundwave but as the new leader I must face the facts. So here they are," Starscream paused a moment to let it all sink in before he continued, "As you know, we are in dire need of supplies if we are to complete the construction of this base as well as keep a steady supply of energy to remain functioning. But you also know that we absolutely must maintain our low profile status. This means no more raids… however if you wish to get shot you do so at your own risk. Those who wish to remain without any further damage to your hulls, the only way we will be able to get these necessities is to start getting a steady income. I am _ordering_ you to find a job on this miserable excuse for a habitable plain of existence."

As expected, there was an instant wave of protests from everyone except from Soundwave who already knew that this was going to happen, "So we basically have to go crawling on our bellies to those insignificant worms," Blackout challenged with a growl of irritation.

"Who said they had to know who they were paying?" Starscream lifted an optical ridge, "Do you not have a holoform? Have you forgotten your ability to hack into their primitive firewalls and simply slip in undetected?"

"It's not going to be that simple and you know it," the Pave Low rebutted, "The insects already know of our existence and will have learned to be wary of us."

"Do you have any better suggestions? Preferably ones that don't involve being shot at because as it stands we are running quite low on energon," Starscream countered as he was beginning to grow impatient with the bickering.

The chopper opened his mouth to give a response but closed it when he couldn't think of a good one. "Besides, you missed the point entirely. I never said that you had to get along with the Humans or even give a slag about them at all. The point that I am trying to emphasize is that all of you need to get some kind of work in order to help with funds so that our faction does not deteriorate just because of a lack of energy," Starscream corrected the Pave Low.

Though many of the others had protests none of them voiced it because they knew that unfortunately, Starscream was right. "Well, I'm covered. All I got to do is register with the Tranquility Police Department and I'm set. I don't know about the rest of you though," Barricade piped up with a smug look on his face.

Thundercracker yawned widely, "I know for a fact that I'm not giving up my alt-mode so I guess it's going to be off to the military for me. These things may not be the best piece of technology I've ever scanned but I could be worse off."

Starscream cleared his intake loudly, which quickly pulled everyone's attention to the front, "What the frag are you all waiting for? Did I not tell you all to get jobs? I don't want to see head or aft of anyone unless you've found work! Do I make myself clear?" Starscream barked as he activated his rifles, "Anyone who fails at this will deal with me. Now get out of my sight!"

There was a quick chorus of, "yes, sir!' before everyone scrambled for the exit. Starscream deactivated his rifles with a heavy sigh and went back to his quarters to look for himself.


	2. Chapter 1

I DO NOT OWN TRANSFORMERS!!!! Autoboobs wouldn't like me very much if I did.

Family Affair

Chapter 1

Come on! You two are gonna be late!" Sam Witwicky shouted up the stairs to his twin daughters, Honeybee and Raven.

Their mother, Mikaela, was at work. She owned her own auto-body shop downtown so she had to leave early so she could open shop. That left Sam, who worked as a pawn shop dealer, to take the girls to school since he didn't have to open until eleven later that morning.

The first one that bounded down the stairs was of course Raven; she never has any problems making up her mind about what she was going to wear. The seven year old had waist length black hair and was straight like her father's. She had pale tanned skin and big blue eyes filled with a silent curiosity that only a child could possess. She had on a black t-shirt that said, 'Don't touch me!' in white letters and a pair of black wash cargo jeans along with black sneakers that had glittery white stars on them.

Her sister, Honeybee, on the other hand, was a completely different story. When she _finally_ came down the stairs she was dressed in a yellow zip-up hoodie with a picture of a bee embroidered into the left side of the chest. It was left open showing off the plain black t-shirt underneath. She wore a pair of dark wash blue jeans that had twin yellow stripes all the way down the sides to the bottom hem along with yellow tennis shoes that had twin black stripes on them. Her hair was malt brown, shoulder length and was really curly like the mother's, golden tan skin and big amber eyes filled with excitement.

"'Kay, let's go," Sam motioned them out to the yellow Camaro with black racing stripes sitting out in the driveway, which has _finally_ been paved. His parents had moved out to Hawaii and so he inadvertently inherited the house, which he and Mikaela now lived in. Sam opened the door and pulled the seat forward so Honey could climb in. Meanwhile, Raven helped herself to the other door and crawled into the sit all by herself.

Honey and her father weren't paying attention but Raven noticed immediately that the door shut and no one was there to push it. Raven had ridden in the backseat before but she never had seen the door shut by itself. Of course she had to ask, "Dad? Is the door supposed to shut by itself?"

Sam blinked in confusion before it dawned on him that he had never told them about Bumblebee as he realized what she was asking. He had promised his guardian that he would one day introduce them but hadn't really gotten around to it because of work and other things. Sam shrugged and guessed that now was as good a time as any, "I'll tell you once we are on the road okay?" he said as he flopped lightly into the driver's seat.

Once they left the driveway, Sam told them, "If I tell you, you've gotta promise me that you won't anyone not even at school. Kay?"

"We promise!" they chimed at the same time.

"Okay. Hear goes. My car is not really a car," Sam started to explain, "_He_ is an alien entity called a Transformer."

"An alien? Like from outer space?" Raven's face lightened as she grinned widely.

"Yep!" Sam smiled brightly, "His name's Bumblebee but you can just call him 'Bee for short."

"Nuh uh! Cause that's Honeybee's nickname. She'll get confused," Raven reminded her father with a mixed expression.

Suddenly, there was a mechanical voice that spoke, "I would have to agree with the girl, Sam."

"Well… we'll discuss this further after you get out of school okay?" Sam looked at them with a mixed expression.

"So… Why are you on our planet?" Honeybee asked ignoring her sister's comment.

"I originally came here to look for a large metal cube called the All-Spark along with the rest of the Autobots. We were either going to take it back or destroy it before the Decepticons could get it," Bumblebee explained.

That of course brought on the inevitable question from the brown haired child, "What's an Autobot?"

"We are a faction of warriors from our home world of Cybertron that fight in a never-ceasing war between against the Decepticons. We fight for the freedom of all sentient beings to be able to choose their own destinies," he replied with a smile in his voice.

However, Raven's curiosity wasn't sated just yet as she asked, "What's a Decepticon?"

"They are the faction that we fight against. Their purpose is to enslave and or destroy all that are weaker in their optics," the scout explained.

Then Honeybee asked, "What's an optic?"

"They are similar in nature to your eyes that we use them to see where we are going with them as well as our surroundings. Except that we also use them to scan the different terrestrial vehicles so that we can blend it with our current environment," he told her.

"Cool!" the girls chorused as they pulled up in front of their elementary school, "Thanks, Dad! Thanks, Bee!" they called as they climbed out of the car and ran off so they wouldn't be late.

"I was hoping you would introduce them to me soon. They're so adorable," Bumblebee commented as they peeled away from the curb.

Sam had a couple of hours to kill before he had to open so he was going to get some stuff done around the house. He sighed as they drove back, "It's all about the timing. If I had told them when they were younger they probably wouldn't have understood."

"That is true," 'Bee agreed and they drove the rest of the way in silence.

***

Meanwhile on the other side of town, a woman about 28 years of age stormed around the corner of 5th and Serenade. Her black hair, which stopped past her shoulder blades, was tied up in a tight braid, her skin looked like pure caramel and her eyes were a blazing green. She wore a black tank top, her black uniform trousers and the boots that also went with her uniform.

She trudged up the stairs to the Tranquility Police Department. Her eyes felt like they were going to burn holes into everything that fell under their gaze. Dragon Banes all but shoved anyone and anything out of her way as she made her way to the back of the station to the locker room.

As she got to her locker door, a voice called to her from behind, "Dragon, you're lat-," it was the chief.

"Yes, I'm late. I'm not stupid," she hissed vehemently as she nearly boiled over with rage before grabbing her uniform jacket from out of the locker. As soon as she finished buttoning it, she slammed the metal door with a loud bang and walked briskly to where the Chief of Police was standing watching her with a raised eyebrow, "Some _ASSHOLE _decided it would be funny to take a fuckin' metal bat to the car that I had worked my ass off for. My only mode of transportation is now off to the junkyard."

Chief Durem sighed heavily, "That's terrible. Wasn't your car brand new, too?"

"Yes. Brand _FUCKING_ new! _TOTALLED_!" she shouted in anger.

"Hey, hey! Calm down. It will be fine. Besides, with your pension you should be able to get a new one in no time at all." The chief was about forty years of age and had the gruff voice of someone who was fifty, "Anyways, I came down here because I need to see you in my office."

With a sigh, Dragon finally regained her composure and followed her boss to his office where she noticed that there was another officer waiting for the chief as well. His hair was a mixture white with black spikes, the dark purples orbs in the shadow of his bangs held a hellish red tint as they watched the two of them enter the small room. His skin was really pale; it wasn't pure white but it was damn close.

When the chief seated himself he began, "Sergeant Dragon Banes I want to introduce you to your new partner, Deputy Cadence Barrick." (I couldn't think of a name so I just used my own to save my brain from information overload.)

"I'd shake your hand and all but today just isn't that day," the sergeant regarded him with an annoyed stare.

"Believe me, the feeling is mutual," he replied, narrowing his eyes and looking just as annoyed. His voice held an unholy growl to it which gave it a very deep and sinister tone.

Dragon moved to the other side of the room next to the window. The shades on the window had been pulled up so she had a clear view of the parking lot below. It's pretty easy to spot a horse in the middle of a herd of sheep. Dragon spotted the Mustang almost instantly, "And you came with your own car, too. That's always a plus… when noobs come prepared."

Deputy Barrick glared daggers at her back but remained quiet as she turned around to face him, "This is going to be awkward. I'm usually the one driving because I normally get partners that are so green that they make unripened bananas look bright yellow," Dragon said while folding her arms over her chest, "But you look like you _may_ know something of what you're doing."

Barrick balked at her, and retorted with an irritated expression, "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You look like the type I can trust not to punch and turn every fuckin' button and knob in the damn car," she explained her toned hinted at her growing impatience, "It's so annoying when they do that. It's like poking someone in the shoulder repeatedly until they finally snap and try to put their fist through your face."

Chief Durem cleared his throat, "That's enough. You two are late as it is. So, get out of my office and get in your quality _bonding_ time as you go on patrol. You guys get to go out to the residential area between Fort Grace Street and Lullaby Drive."

"What the fuck?… Is that what we're calling it now? Bonding time? That's real great," Sergeant Dragon commented sarcastically as she saluted and left the office the deputy following close after.

"Lullaby Drive?" Deputy Barrick couldn't help but inquire about the unusual street name although it did sound vaguely familiar.

Dragon snorted as she pushed through the front door, "The most boring street in all of Tranquility. All the houses look the same, virtually no litter as far as the eye can see, and no serious activity what so ever because everyone on the damn street's a snitch. Basically, all we'll be doin' is drivin' around in circles for about eight or more hours."

"So… Let me get this straight. We're going to be doing absolutely nothing for eight hours straight?" he asked with a flat expression.

"Yep."

Barrick groaned in annoyance as they both got into the car and started out for the patrol zone. 'This is going to be one long and uneventful solar cycle,' he thought to himself although smiled as no one had noticed that he wasn't actually one of them.

***

Two guesses who it is? Yeah right like I need to ask. I hope you have enjoyed this, thus far. Please review.


	3. Chapter 2

Family Affair

Chapter 1

Cadence Barrick

"Daddy!" Honeybee and Raven both ran at Sam and tackled his legs as he got out of Bumblebee to wait for them.

Sam had to flail his arms so he wouldn't fall over, "Hey, you two," he greeted them as he regained his balance.

"Daddy, guess what?" Raven smiled up at him as she let go of his leg.

"What?"

Honey answered for her sister, "We had art class today and we had to work in pairs. Me and Raven had to weave string together on this small wooden loom thingy."

Raven took off her backpack and pulled out the finished product. It had a black string background and part of the thing was puffed out slightly with golden yellow string stripes. Grey string for the wings and white string for its eyes and the stinger. It was a bee. "We made it for Bee."

"Aww… that was nice of you," Sam smiled before he opened the passenger side door to let them into the car. After he got them settled in, he closed the door and got behind the wheel, "You guys remember what day it is?"

"Um… Friday?" Honeybee looked at him in confusion.

Raven suddenly got the 'ah-ha!' look on her face, "Momma gets off work early today, huh?"

Sam beamed at them from the rearview mirror, "Yep! And guess where we're going after that?"

The twins exchanged glances and shrugged, "Dunno…"

"We are going to an air show this afternoon," their father said watching as their expressions changed from 'uh… to OMG?!' before explaining, "Your mom noticed that you two have been wantin' to go to an air show. So today's the day."

"SWEET!!" both twins whooped and pumped their fists in the air.

Bumblebee peeled away from the curb to head off to the downtown area.

***

"Stunt planes?!" Skywarp cried in horrified awe as he flailed his arms with exasperation, "What the frag?! Why stunt planes?"

Starscream pinched the bridge of his smell receptors as he began to feel a nasty headache coming on, "Do you really think the fleshbags are going to _give_ us a job as fighters? Hello, have you forgotten who we are?"

Earlier that morning, the Seekers had tried to use the Registry to slip into the human military ranks but had been caught by a rather nasty firewall that they hadn't expected from the fleshlings. Instead of trying level the entire thing, he confronted the general who was in charge of the Airland Field on the far outskirts of Tranquility. Saying that General Stephen Rockinvolk was reluctant was a horrible understatement but however he had three pilots that were without jets and gave the three of them the position of stunt plane. The general had told them flat out that if he could trust them not to randomly eject their assigned pilots *cough*accidently-on-purpose*cough* he _might _allow them to be bumped up to fighter.

Now, Starscream had to deal with three irked wingmates. "But Screamer?! Even being a simple recon team would have been better!" Thundercracker shouted, fire red optics ablaze with annoyance.

"The only option they gave was stunt plane!" Starscream shouted back frustration reading out all over. He wasn't irritated with his wingmates but miffed at this entire situation as a whole, "We are to be back at the base in five minutes where we will be assign our _pilots_, and then we will begin warming up for our performance. The show will proceed in the next three Earth hours which will give us plenty of time."

"Fine… I'll do it…," Skywarp grumpled as his wings sagged slightly in defeat.

Their leader looked at the black and dark violet jet before smirking, "Good, because you don't have a choice."

Starscream transformed and flew out of the open doors of the abandoned hanger that he and the other Decepticons had turned into a base of operations. He could see the other two following close behind him on his radar. With a sigh Starscream radioed in, "Beside, don't forget why we are doing this."

There was a silence before Skywarp responded, "We know… It's just hard to accept that we have to go crawling on our bellies to those fraggin' meatbags."

Starscream chuckled darkly, "I know… Believe me, I know."

***

It was scorching hot in the savannah that day. The blazing sun beamed its intense glare down upon the inhabitants. Her black hair was tied back into two very thick and very long ponytails that stopped at her knees. The woman's skin which was usually quite pale was already sun burnt skin. She tried fruitlessly to cover it up with what sunscreen she had left. She let out a cry of frustration as she managed to get half of a squeeze before the bottle was empty. "Fuck!" she shouted as she pelted the bottle at a boulder which caused a loud clatter.

It was the drought season in the Serengeti and there was almost no water, if any at all, to drink. Private First Class Anakia Kora, or AK as she was called by her former comrades, just so happened to be caught in the middle of it. She had been stuck out in the plains of Africa, since she had fled from the base in Qatar after the attack for eight years and one month. She was lucky to get away with her life. When she had gotten far enough way that she was out of the line of fire, she turned back just for a moment when she spotted that _thing._ It obviously never saw her but she could see it as if night had turned to day right then. The thing was huge and had pretty much leveled the entire base. AK didn't like running away just as much as any other person but right then self-preservation had taken over.

Luck seemed to be in your favor for just a moment as she came upon some shade just big enough to sit cross-legged in. Anakia sat down under the tree while she pulled out a canteen from her pack that she had managed to grab before she left. Her faded black fatigue pants were worn but only had a couple holes in them. Her black army issue tank top was shredded in several places and the only thing that didn't look like it was going to fall off any second were her boots.

She took a swig from canteen which was attached to her waist by a leather string. Anakia wiped the sweat from her brow, "I'll be lucky if I don't shrivel up before I can reach either civilization or the other end of the continent. Maybe, I should wait for the monsoon before I head out that way." Her voice crackle slightly from being under hydrated but other than that it retained its smooth tone.

AK sat there for awhile before her stomach gave a low growl. Hunting was a fairly easy task since she grabbed her favorite weapon, an AK-47, before she had ran. The only reason the Captain had allowed her to keep it was because it had been a present from her Company who decided it would be funny for AK to have an AK-47. She checked the gun to make sure all the pieces weren't damaged or warped by the heat and she lifted herself on to her feet to glance around her environment. She had to put on her black camo jacket so she could keep from blistering as long as possible.

Unfortunately, there was nothing left because all the herds had migrated and it was too hot for her to keep going. So with great reluctance, Anakia gave up the hunt and headed back to her currently dwelling which happened to be a cavern. The ceiling of the entrance had just enough clearance that it could've sheltered two female elephants. Past the entrance, the space narrowed into something of a passageway that led into another even larger part of the cave. This part is where she lived, safely tucked away from the sun and other elements. The other cool thing about this cave was it had a large body of water that was actually fairly deep that she was able to cool off and relax in.

Anakia would have made it to the spot by her sleeping bag to deposit her bag had she not tripped over something in her path. AK cursed as she caught the ground with her palms. The soldier rolled over to see what the obstacle was.

Its body was made entirely of metal and wiring. She knew it had wiring because of the frayed bits of metal sticking out of the gunshots all over its hide. The strange robotic creature kind of reminded her of a black scorpion. It had a huge tail but from the looks of it a large portion had been blown off. Anakia noticed there was sand that had turned into this hard crusty sludge all over its body.

Sighing reluctantly, AK got back onto her feet and made it the rest of the way to her sleeping bag, depositing her bag next to it. She took out a few pipe cleaners from her bag, along with a few wire caps which she put pocket before walking back up to the seemingly lifeless beast. When she tried to touch the metal it nearly burned her hands, "Ow! Damn, that's some hot stuff." After her comment to the unconscious scorpion, she retreated back to her pack and pulled out a pair of heavy duty work gloves. Anakia put them on before grabbed the beast by its broken tail and slowly dragged it into the pool of water at the other end of the chamber. Her eyebrows shot up in amazement at the amount of steam caused when the metal touched the cool liquid.

AK hoped that the creature was still alive as she began to scrape away all the grit and crud that caked its circuitry. "I bet its wires are all fried by now," she commented flatly to herself but kept working nonetheless.

Anakia didn't see the red optics flicker to life as the being returned to consciousness. In a sudden flash of movement the mecha scorpion leapt out of the water, waving and clicking its pinchers at her menacingly.

However, Anakia wasn't one to be easily impressed by bravado, "You know it's kinda hard to be afraid of someone who's got pieces of their body missin'."

Scorponok ignored the fleshling as he tried to send out a communication line to Blackout but all he could get was static. The scorpion cursed in his language which sounded only like a mixture spastic clicks. He looked back up at the human female who was now staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Her outer armor was strangely familiar to him; it looked much like that of the human military that Blackout had annihilated back in Qatar. She shrugged and retreated to where her stuff was and put the pipe cleaners bag into her bag.

Anakia strode back over to the edge of the water but on the opposite side that the robot was on and began to stripe off her outer armor. "If you're quite done staring me down, I'm going to get back to _my _agenda," she commented wryly as she lowered herself into the water. She hissed in slight pain as the water touched her burnt skin.

Scorponok blinked his optics and tilted her head at her in curiosity. Before turning his attention to the pack near her bedding and gave it quick scan, thanking Primus that his scanners still worked. He noticed that the majority of the content consisted of tools that would probably quite handy in a person who knew who to fix things. Then he realized that she was a mechanic and that she could probably fix his comlink.

The scorpion quickly scurried to the other side of the watering hole and prodded her with one of his pinchers. In return wasn't prepared for the response she gave, "Ow! Damnit! The hell is wrong with you!? Don't poke me!" she hissed painfully. Sighing heavily, she knew it probably poked her for a reason so she calmed herself before asking, "What do you need?"

"I need you to fix my comm.," he confessed with heavy reluctance because he knew he was probably going to have to come up with some sort of compensation. Come on let's face it. Who works for free? He quickly added, "I will be able to contact someone to get us out of here."

The scorpion was almost afraid that she would flat out refuse before her expression gradually softened into a smirk, "Fair enough. You have no idea how sick I am of this fuckin' continent."

As a Decepticon he felt rather embarrassed about having to enlist the help of a fleshling much less a female but as it stood he didn't really have much of a choice. He couldn't reach all of the components with his short arms and the pinchers were too bulky to handle the delicate wiring. And as much as he detested humans he had to agree with her on her view of their current location.

"Can grab my bag from over there? I won't be able to do anything without my equipment," Anakia all but ordered.

Not wanting this to take longer than it should, Scorponok complied and brought her things to her so that she could work. With that he let her work in silence.


	4. Chapter 3

Family Affair

Chapter 3

It had taken A LOT of convincing before the army had allowed Blackout to work for them. He had to go to them personally because going through the Registry had failed. They little insects had gotten smarter about their personnel information so when that backfired he had no choice but to deal with this task face to face. It had taken ALL of the Pavlow's will power to keep from simply blowing up the fleshlings along with the rest of the base. For a starting job, he had to help with the pyrotechnics of the public air show that would be displayed at the human's base of operations. The army base and the air base were located at the edge of the other's perimeter; the only thing separating the two were the tall chain link fences armed with barbed wire on the top. Fortunately, the people he now worked for didn't seem to find it necessary to report his presence to the Autobots. Meaning he would be able to work in peace without having guns pointed at his head.

So far the humans had actually taken to some of the ideas he had given them and were now setting up the display for the air show. Meanwhile, Blackout watched the fleshlings making sure they did everything correctly and occasionally giving them instructions when they were needed. Sometimes he would step in and rearrange some of the wires but other than that the humans were actually doing pretty well on their own.

To his dismay, however, an Autobot did show up and of all the ones it could have been it had to be Ironhide. Along with the Weapon's Specialist was of course Commander Lennox. Blackout shrugged and went back to overseeing that fireworks display but was quickly pulled away by Ironhide as he demanded, "What in the Pit do you think you are doing?"

"My job," Blackout answered simply not really wanting to deal with the crabby Autobot.

Ironhide gave the Decepticon a blank stare and echoed, "You're job... HAH! Do you really expect me to believe that the humans just GAVE you a job?"

"Do you really think I give a fuck what you believe?" Blackout asked flatly.

The Autobot blinked his optics several times, "Did I just hear a Decepticon using a fleshling swear word? I believe I did."

The Pavlow sighed heavily, "You know for someone who is a lot older than I you still have a lot of growing to do." The chopper heard a snort down by his right foot and looked to see Commander Lennox trying not to laugh, "I see someone else around here might have the same view point from time to time."

After a few minutes, Blackout turned back to his worked and was surprised that he was actually able to work in silence. Unfortunately, Ironhide wasn't the type to remain quiet for very long and the fact that he was bored out of his metal skull didn't help at all. "So… Why are you Decepticreeps affiliating yourselves with the humans? I thought you guys hate them," Ironhide tilting his head slightly in curiosity.

The Pavlow snorted, "You're right, Autobot. I detest them; I find them rather disgusting but they aren't the Decepticons' main concern. The fact that I am working for them is between me and the humans I am working for. To get a job you must be a citizen, correct?" The last question was directed to the human because he knew that the Weapons' Specialist wouldn't know the answer.

The commander seemed to notice this and replied, "Yeah, that's right. So, wait. You took the citizenship test?"

The smoke black chopper nodded, "It was required so of course I took it and passed remarkably I might add."

"Have all of you guys gotten jobs? Or is it only you so far," Lennox asked looking slightly confused.

But instead of an answer, Blackout returned to the task at hand because it needed to be finished. Just as the commander was about to ask again the whine of jet engines as three colorful F-22s shot by. The one in the lead had a white base color, crimson red trim along the front edges of its wings and its underbelly and cobalt blue on its nosecone as well as on the tail fins. The one on the left wing has a cobalt blue body, black trim and a crimson red nosecone along with matching tail fins. Finally, the one on the right wing was pure black except for the blue-violet trim along the front edges of the wings, on the nosecone and the tailfins.

The lead Raptor's cockpit opened just as the pilot inside jumped out into the air. It suddenly did a flip in midair and the body began to unfold as Starscream transformed before making his landing. The pilot landed gracefully in his outstretched palm. Skywarp and Thundercracker followed suit and skidded to a halt next to their leader, catching their pilots in the same motion. It was irritating Ironhide that there were so many Decepticons and he couldn't shoot a single one of them because they were under sanctuary. He growled in annoyance as the Seekers sneered at him while they set their pilots on the ground before walking up to the Pavlow, "Are the fireworks ready, yet?" Starscream inquired, ignoring the Autobot glaring daggers at him.

The chopper turned to face him, "They shall be soon enough. I've added some of my own personal touches-." He was interrupted by his COM link as it suddenly sprang to life, "…the frag?"

"What is it?" Skywarp asked.

Blackout replied incredulously, "I'm being hailed… Right now I'm scanning the frequency to see who it's coming from…" the chopper trailed of suddenly before letting out what sounded like a slight gasp.

"Who is it?" Starscream demanded as he tapped his talons against his arm impatiently.

At first he was silent, then for the first time in the longest time he grinned widely as he said, "Scorponok is still alive." Then he opened the link and in Cybertronian he spoke, "_This is Designation Blackout, identify._"

"_This is Designation Scorponok_," the scorpion responded,"_ Blackout I request retrieval from the continent known as Africa. I also have cargo with me._"

"_Cargo?_" the Pavlow echoed with a raised optical ridge, "What kind of cargo?"

"_Well, um… I'm sort of in debt. You know how hard it is to repair myself with my bulky claws so I happened upon this stranded female and she was able to repair my COM link. She had just gotten my scanners up and according to my readout she did a rather remarkable job_," he explained to his master.

Blackout blinked his optical shutters a couple times, "WHAT?!" he shouted aloud.

"Ya know, this may sound like a stupid question but… Who the fuck is Scorponok?" Will asked while scratching the back of his neck.

Thundercracker peered down at the human and answered him flatly, "He is Blackout's drone. He is a Cybertronian scorpion."

Lennox' eyes grew as wide as saucer plates when he realized who that was, "You mean that thing that tried to stab me back in Qatar?!"

"Yeah, that was him," Starscream confirmed with a bored look on his face.

Meanwhile, "_How the Pit are you in debt to a human?!_" Blackout demanded.

Scorponok sighed heavily, "_The only way I could get her to cooperate was to offer compensation and the only thing I could offer her was a ride back home._"

The chopper groaned in annoyance, "_Fine_," with that Blackout closed the link and rubbed the bridge of his smell receptor, "I don't believe this."

"What did he want?" Skywarp prodded verbally.

"He's stranded in Africa and he wants me to retrieve him. He said he had found a fleshling, a female by the sound of it, who could repair the comm. unit but apparently she would only do it if he offered payment of some sort. So I now have to bring her back, too," growled Blackout.

Ironhide had been standing there listening the entire time and had to roll his eyes, "Yay… More 'Cons I can't shoot."

The Topkick's comment caused the commander to face palm and look up at him, "Hey, 'Hide? Why don't you go help Sarah with Annabelle? You wouldn't be stuck here getting irritated and the rest of us can work in relative peace."

The truck balked at the Captain, "But, I was ordered to help you keep an eye on them!"

"Dude! I am a grown man! An adult. Like another adult, I am fully capable of doing my job, by myself. Got it! Look you gotta understand, I'm one of those folks who finds it frustrating when people don't think I can watch my own ass," Lennox stared at him in the optics with narrowed eyes, "Now, can I ask you to do this one thing for me? I have to help with this and you can help me by making sure that my wife and daughter have a way here tonight. 'Kay?"

"Fine," his shoulders slumped in defeat before he transformed and sped off.

"Now," the commander turned back around to find the others staring down at him odd expressions, "What?"

At first no one spoke but then Skywarp started with a big grin, "And craaack goes the whip."

"Well, if you treat me like a kid you better expect it to be thrown back in your face ten fold because I don't put up with that shit," the commander shrugged before going on, "Now as I was about to say… Blackout, I believe the explosives are almost done here so I don't see anything wrong with going and getting… Scorponok? Also, you said he had a human female with him. Did he mention whether she was military in appearance or civilian?"

"He did not specify the identity of the human but I suppose I could heed her request since she did repair Scorponok's comm.

***

"What did he say?" AK asked the scorpion. She had just repaired his damned comm. link when he had radioed for his master, whom he called Blackout.

The metal arachnid clicked his claws together thoughtfully before answering, "He will be here. Do you have any wire caps in your bag?"

"I think so. Lemme look," Anakia pulled loose the drawstrings on her backpack. She had long since gotten past the whole giant scorpion thing and was actually of another sentient being quite comforting. AK's pack was huge so she had to do some serious digging but her efforts were rewarded as she plucked from the very bottom of the bag ten wire caps, "Too bad the outpost was totaled. I'll bet there were plenty more but it's probably all buried in sand now."

The scorpion seemed to make a strange clicking sound and tilted his head at her but didn't ask. "Those will do for now," he nodded, his injured tail swished back and forth. Anakia went to work scrapping off burnt casing and wiring that were showing through open bullet wounds in his metal hide.

"It looks like you took a pretty bad whoopin'. Judging by the melted edges around the holes, I'd say they were magnesium rounds," AK commented as she earned the equivalent of a hiss as she plucked a spent bullet from one of the wound openings, "So... I hate to pry but now I'm curious. What did you do to make someone wanna take you out with mag rounds?"

Scorponok hesitated at her question. He could remember like it was yesterday. Blackout had leveled a human military base and had sent him after the fleshbags that were trying to get away. He had finally cornered them when suddenly there was this explosion of white hot pain against his hull. It became so unbearable that he retreated by burrowing back into the ground. In the heat of his escape the spike that used to be at the end of his tail had been blown off.

The drone was trying to think of a good way to explain this when there was a ping on his radar. "He is waiting for us outside," he said suddenly and charged out of the cavern.

Anakia grabbed her stuff before running after him back out into the hot sun to see the large form of a Pavlow chopper landing on the sandy ground. Scorponok squealed happily as he barreled out to greet his master. However, Anakia was having a different reaction.

He heard a gasp from somewhere behind him and skidded to a halt to look up as the woman's eyes widened in reserved, not really fear, more like wariness. She was still moving towards them but at little slower pace.

***

Blackout was coming up on the savannah; he remembered it from when he had to search out the old human military base that he had the pleasure of blowing sky high. He scanned the terrain and immediately received several blips on his radar. The Pavlow scanned each one individually looking for his drone's distinct energy signal which wasn't too hard since the other blips were only organic life forms. Peelings off in the direction the signal was coming from; he couldn't help but notice one of the organic blips was almost on top of Scorponok's blip. 'Must be the human,' Blackout concluded.

He watched as the two of them came bounding out of a small patch of thick underbrush near a medium sized mound of raise earth. The Pavlow scanned Scorponok as he set down on the dusty ground. He was covered in holes and part of his tail was missing, from his scans he could tell that he was also in dire need of energon. That's when he heard the female gasp. He gave the fleshling a once over, taking in her appearance. The garments she wore, although darker in color, were the same as those of the U.S. Army. Her hair was black, very black and very long; it was to the point where she had to actually tie it back to keep it from dragging along the ground and collecting dirt. Not that it mattered, because she was covered from head to foot in filth. He noticed that her skin was really flush and judging by the radiation coming off of the reddened areas they had been over exposed to the sun.

But what got him was her reaction. He could see that she was afraid but it wasn't an unbridled fear but a fear of something one would recognize from a nightmare of the past. Blackout scanned her and his ponderings were confirmed by her spiked heart rate and increasing respiration. He watched as she sighed and hiked up her pack to keep it from falling off of her shoulder. She followed after Scorponok to where he had landed; her eyes were cast downwards onto the dirt beneath her feet.

Meanwhile, Blackout spoke to Scorponok through their internal link, "She's a survivor ain't she?"

"It appears that way. I can't believe we overlooked this one. Thank Primus, too. I probably wouldn't have been able to comm. you if she hadn't tripped over me," the scorpion answered with a mixed expression.

"Waitta minute. She found you by tripping over you? How'd she manage that?" the helicopter inquired.

"It's a long story. I will tell you all about it when we get back."

Blackout seemed to be convinced and slid open the side panel to the cargo hold so the both of them could climb in. Scorponok leapt in first and then the woman tossed in her stuff before hoisting herself up into the hold. She reluctantly slid her belongings next to one of the passenger benches and flopped into the seat. As soon as she sat down the sunburn began to take its toll on her energy levels; she yawned widely not even bothering to stifle it.

The Pavlow cringed inwardly as her body odor hit his smell receptors. He couldn't hold back his question, "What the frag have you been rolling in, human?"

"Sorry, I ran out of soap," she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I guess my abilities of foresight are a little weak," her voice dripped with sarcasm that would have made even Starscream proud, "I wasn't able to predict that I would need EIGHT YEARS worth of soap. I'll be sure to introduce you to the Fabreze when we get back to base."

"Fabreze?' Blackout echoed in slight confusion.

Anakia explained with a sigh, "It's an odor eating compound. They have one for fabric, upholstery, and air freshening." AK didn't mind talking to the Pavlow; it actually was helping her to ease her nerves.

All she got for a response was an 'oh' and the cargo hold fell silent. The woman yawned again but this time gave into to her body's need for rest by flopping over onto her right side taking up the rest of the space on the bench. She was just about to close her eyes and pass out when there was a clicking noise really close to her ear. Anakia opened her eyes to see what it was but it was only Scorponok tapping his claws together. She returned her head to the resting position and started to slip into unconsciousness when Blackout's voice pulled her away, "I am assuming that you have a designation."

The soldier groaned in protest at not being able to sleep, "Name's Anakia Kora. AK for short, although most of my comrades back in my last company called me AK-47. I entered the military when I was eighteen and became a repair, maintenance worker. I was assigned to the Airland base out near Tranquility in the state of California and before I got stranded they had a surplus of mechanics on the army's half so I would often find myself helping with repairs over on the airbase side." Anakia figured if she gave him the usual details that people wanted to know ahead of time that he wouldn't ask anymore questions. Boy was she wrong.

"So, wait... What all have you repaired since you've been in the army?" the chopper was now fully intrigued. This human could be of some use to the Decepticons since they didn't really have an actual medic on their side.

With a frustrated sigh the woman rose to her feet and began pacing the length of the cargo hold, "Let's see... I've repaired three or four different kinds of military choppers, about ten or so gunner jeeps, seven convoy trucks with and without the canvas tops... um... Countless weapons; sniper rifles, hand guns, shot guns, rocket launchers, automatics, though me favorite one was a beat up old Magnum .44. The barrel was bent all to hell and the bullet holder was no longer attached to the gun. That's just on the army's side of the base. For the air force, I've replaced burnt out and or broken runway lights, repaired the communication's consul at least four times. I've also gotten to do repairs on three Soaring Eagles, two Strike Eagles, one Fighting Falcon, three Hornets, two Super Hornets, and seven Raptors. That's all I can list off the top of my head."

Anakia noticed that the chopper had grown eerily silent and she stopped pacing to await his next response. Meanwhile, she could see out the corner of her eye that the metal arachnid was staring at her, his curiosity had obviously been peaked as his head was slightly tilted to the side.

Blackout was one of those mechs that was really hard to impress but he did a quick search for her profile in the military archives and found that she was indeed telling the truth. "Most impressive... For a human," he finally grumbled out. He made quick bank to the right as they made their approach on the base. The chopper hailed the human military base and was granted permission to land.

Commander Lennox was waiting for him to land along with a couple of others, Sergeant Jerome Fredrickson who was a thickly built dark skinned man that Blackout recognized from Qatar as the one he nearly stepped on. The other one was Sergeant Carlos Juagro; he had dark tanned skin and was also really well built but less bulky with a heavy Latino accent. When Blackout touched down he flung the cargo door open. Without any hesitation, Anakia jumped down to the solid cement of the base and the first thing she said was, "Oh my god! It's cement!" She jumped up and down a few times to confirm her declaration before carrying on again, "Thank God for concrete!" Then she looked up at the three soldiers staring at her in awe, "I'd get down on my knees and kiss the ground but that would be overkill."

Jerome was the first to come around, "AK!!!" He almost bowled her over as he tackled her in crushing bear hug. The other two whooped along with him before Jerome set her back on the ground, "Woo! Girl you reek but damnit it's good to have you back!"

"That's right bitches. I wasn't dead just on a much extended leave which involved me bustin' my phone when I lost connection and running out of soap. Hell, if I had known I'd out there that long I'd have brought bigger pack," Anakia scratched the back of her head, "I hate to cut this short but I need a shower and then I need to find a bottle of Fabreze."

"...the fuck do you need Fabreze for?" Carlos cut in but then remembered who brought her back, "Oh."

Through all of the excitement no one noticed the large metallic pincer reach up to tug at the edge of Anakia's shirt until she turned around to see who it was. The three men jumped back a couple feet but the woman remained calm as she looked down at him, "S'up?"

Instead of saying anything, the scorpion waved his injured tail in front of her face until she realized that something was dangling from it. "Oh! My stuff. Heh! Thanks, dude," She patted him on the head before heading off towards the main building. The other three soldiers could only stare at her back in amazement as she walked away.

---

I think some of the names for the other two soldiers were a bit off. I couldn't think of them and I didn't have access to the Internet when I wrote this chapter so bear with me. I hope you guys like it. Sorry for the wait but life has kind of been kicking my a** as of late so that's why I haven't been posting.


	5. Chapter 4

Family Affair Chapter 4

Dragon couldn't help herself but to yawn widely. All she and Cadence had done was pretty much circled the area at least ten times. "Stretch you mouth any wider an you could probably swallow this planet whole," her partner commented bluntly.

"Screw off man. I'm so bored that I'm half tempted to go plain clothes and pick a fight myself," the woman looked over at him in annoyance.

"You're bored enough to risk your career?" Cadence asked incredulously.

Dragon looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, "You really gotta stop takin' me so seriously. I mean when we're on a case by all means I need you to take me seriously but at this point in time it really isn't necessary."

"I knew this job would be a piece of cake," the man in the driver seat laughed.

"Heh, it's almost too easy today. Besides they usually don't radio for me until the real shit starts to fly," Dragon responded with a smirk, "You see unlike most of the other officer's I got hired straight off of the street."

The other officer looked at her in surprise, "How did you manage that?"

"You see I used to be a street fighter but unlike most of those losers I never travelled with a gang. I was a solo fighter. So what happened was the city P.D. had come out to the scene because of some fight that apparently broke out in the middle of the street. However, when they got there they were met with what looked like a young woman who just got jumped by a bunch of thugs but apparently the tables had turned before they had got there. Instead of them hauling me off into the alley, I hauled off on them and I was doing pretty well by myself, too."

Dragon paused in her explanation to let it sink in before continuing, "Seeing as the gang hadn't really noticed them, the officers took this opportunity to surround all of us with their squad cars. Of course by then the hoodlums had noticed them but by the time anyone thought to escape the cars were just spaced wide enough appart that if the doors were open on both sides no one would be going anywhere. However, none of the cops that were there fired a single shot. They were busy watching as one of the biggest gangs in the city got their asses handed to them by a girl."

"After I had successfully handed them their whoopin' the officers decided to move in on the gang members and thankfully had enough cars for all of them. Of course I was questioned about it and such but as I was being questioned the chief, yes the chief had been out their too, and told the other officer that I didn't need to be questioned further. He then requested that I come to the station however, but of course at the street I was on it was quite the walk from there especially after getting out of a fight. He offered me a ride there since his car didn't have a passenger since he was the chief and allowed me to ride shotgun," she paused again to scratch the back of her head.

"When we got down to the station he pulled me into his office and as soon as he closed the door he went behind his desk and pulled something out of his drawer then handed it to me. At first I just stared at it like a moron but I mean how many people get a job just because they defended themselves on the street? It was a badge and you only get those if you actually work for the department. So of course I asked him why. He told me that they had been trying to round up those crooks for months and to have some girl come up outta the blue and whoop their asses was pretty awesome. He said the force could use that kinda skill so he handed me badge then told me to report in the next morning," Dragon finished her explanation and took a glance down at her wrist watch, "Well whaddya know, our shift's over."

Cadence looked at her in confusion before looking at the clock on the dashboard, "Heh, I guess it is."

Without another word, the officer turned the car around and they headed back to the station.

***

Meanwhile, back at the Airland Base, Anakia Kora had long since finished freshening up but took one last look in the mirror before turning and walking out the door to her new quarters that had been assigned to her. She strolled casually down the corridor in a now fresh set of black Army gi indentical to one she been previously wearing. Anakia had also taken the liberty of trimming up her hair so she could at least pull it back to regulation standards. It was now up in a pair of tight buns on the back of her head.

Anakia had in her hand an overly large spray bottle of original scented Fabreze. She got stopped several times in the hallway by people wishing to welcome her back and inquire about the Fabreze. Finally, the woman made it back outside. The sun was starting its descent into the western horizon and people had already begun to show up for the presentation.

There he was. She recognized the rotor blades hanging off of his back and called up to him, "I brought the stuff like I said I would."

Blackout peered down at her in confusion before remembering who he was talking to, "Took you long enough," he smart-assed before transforming into his chopper mode.

"Hey. I had everyone and their grandmother stopping me in the hallway on my way out the door. I've been gone for eight years. That's along time for us humans. The least I could do was allow them to welcome me back to civilization," Anakia shrugged with a flat expression, "You gonna open up or what?"

The Decepticon thrust the panel open to allow her inside. As soon as Anakia climbed in he shut the panel at once. She stared at the front wall of the hold in confusion, "It's not gonna take that long."

As she spoke she had begun spraying down the area with the chemical. Instantly the air lost any odors that were lingering. "I needed to ask something of you."

Normally, Blackout was not one to ask someone for anything but couldn't help but see this particular fleshling with an air of respect for repairing his drone's comm. link. So he felt the need to ask rather then demand.

Anakia stood there with her arms crossed waiting for him to continue even making the gesture for 'go on'. "I wanted to know if I could talk you into becoming a medic for the Decepticons."

"What about my job?" was her immediate question, "My career comes before any side jobs."

"You won't have to give up your job. As you can see we have to work, too. But our side doesn't have a proper mechanic and let me tell you I wouldn't trust the lot of them with my innerds," Blackout explained.

"I see. Like if I'm not busy around the base here then I could do some work over wherever you guys are dwelling, correct?" Anakia inquired with a slight perk to her left eyebrow.

"Exactly."

"I'll talk to my superior about it and see if he would grant me permission. Meanwhile, keep your digits crossed because he's a stubborn mule when he deems it fit to be," she smirked, "Well seeing as the cargo bay no longer smells like a dead animal I'll take my leave. Oh and one more thing. If I do work for you guys on the side can you get someone to make me something that will protect from your blood? Fredrickson told me it was radioactive. I wouldn't be much use to anyone if I melted into a puddle of goo on my day."

"Done," with that Blackout slid the door panel open to let her out.

"My first victim will be your scorpion as soon as you get me those gloves," she grinned, "I'm sure he would appreciated having his tail in one piece."

The chopper-con chuckled darkly before she hopped down and when back into the headquarters building. 


End file.
